Quantum bridges backup gap

Quantum is putting the finishing touches on a disk storage product that will enable companies to run data backups normally performed using tape, but at a much faster rate of speed than tape, according to Quantum representatives.

Currently in beta form and scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2002, the Quantum DX30 is a rack-mounted, disk-based backup system that thinks it's a tape library, and can be installed in front of an existing tape backup system without having to change an administrator's backup policy.

The advantage of disk backup over tape backup is speed. And while the DX30 is not designed to replace tape as an inexpensive method of archiving data, it is designed to help administrators meet their backup windows by storing data faster, according to Quantum. Data backed up to the DX30 can then be transferred to a tape archive without the pressure of a backup windows.

The DX30 packs 3TB of storage capacity within a 3.5-inch rackable chassis. By employing a twist on the RAID approach to storage called ADAM (Adaptive Disk Array Management), Quantum is billing the DX30 as faster then current disk-to-disk storage backup systems, but figures were not given as to exactly how fast the DX30 backs up data.

Representatives for the Milpitas, Calif.-based company described ADAM technology as "a completely different approach to disk storage that is optimized for large, high-speed data transfers," that is less expensive that standard RAID devices. ADAM technology will appear in future products from Quantum as well, representatives said in a statement.

Tape storage came under scrutiny over the last year as the falling price of disk storage threatened to eat in to tape's share of the data storage market.

However, experts like Steve DuPlessie with the Enterprise Storage Group, in Milford, Mass., have said high-speed disk storage systems such as the DX30 will work as an intermediary between primary storage and tape storage, which is still the least expensive way to archive data.

With the DX30, Quantum, a leading tape storage vendor, is nearly to market with such a product

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